Ore separator



Feb. 19, 1935. N, GOLDBERG 1,991,667

ORE SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 19, 1 935. N, L B 1,991,667

ORE SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet? Feb. '19, 1935. GOLDBERG 1,991,667

ORE SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 19, 1935 v 'm J V 56 1 53 h g Y ORE SEPARATOR" V Nathan Goldberg, Denver, Colo. I

' Application August 20, 1932, Serial No. 629,648 f 1 Claim. (Cl. 210-52) p I This invention relates to m ro ements in Fig/ 2" isan'end viewjofthe receiving-hopper placermining machines and has rferencemore and cliute,l' looking in the direction of arrow l g; particularly to a simplifiedconstructionof ma- Figlli p Y V chine that, is designed with special referenceto t Fig. .3 is a section taken on line 3--3, Eiglfl 5 water conservation andfto transportabilityj withone of the riflle boxes removed; 75 It has been recognizedfora-long period of time 1 ['g. 4Tisv a. section through, the grizzly that that the arid regions rjth s and other countries is',emp19yed or separat n the lar pa les contain largeamounts of gold in placer deposits, iroinfthe finerlones; either mixed with gravel or with sand. Hereto- Figffif s l t-S t n on 1 10 fore it has been difiicult, if. nt impossible, to f'E s-fi sas c tak n l Fi o separate this gold;successfullm due to the fact F g;71st 38 1 aken-on in "77, that water is scarce.;.in such regions: and; no Fig? 1 8'S C n taken thoroughly successful dry separating method'h'as f Figl 9 is a Section liakenbn line g so far been devised. Mining operations in these -lo @Setion taken on lin 10-40, Fig arid regions have been greatly limited. Fi v a i n through, p n f a 15 It is the object of this invention to produce a m d fied m n Sh w a rotating/ a complete placer mining; machine of a. size a interposed in the chute between the grizzly and construction that can be readily transported by e x; Y

truck to any desired part and .which can be Fig.,,12iis a view partly in Sid e elevation and operated with aminimum amount of water, and DartlyIin sectiona d ow a bi ed'lot ry 20 5, 7 construction;

therefore even where it is necessary, to transfeedhopperwd Stirring-device; port the waterby truck, extensive mining opera; F 3 a Section taken on line -4 tions can be carried'on H 8111i 3 7 I j Another object of this invention is to produce Fi '14 i a l n v S C 1 l n 5 a mining machinethat shall be adapted to be 4 operated by power derived from an internal com- In the drawings reference numeral 1 ld bustion engine or any other prime mover and e bottQm of iw i mn with e which'will therefore have large capacity and can 2 n $5 3 21. ox DD in sts be operated with the minimum of labor. 7 I on a imms fromiangle r n dw has This invention, briefly described, consists of is been indicated in s a reference 30 tank that isadapted to contain water and over 1 attempt'wm b m todescribe'th? the top of which are located two rifllev boxes that construction q -t a h .anyigreatefpar are movabletransversely oi the, tank. Means is .ticulajritye-bthanabsolutely e a r to explain provided for reciprocating the riflle -boxes and t per n t qjm s v m ifor raising the water from the bottom of the tank The frame P Y d at e hi Vjiir 35 to the elevated end of a chute through which the 'l qm t n those t from; n of material is fed to the riflle box. The chute -is the mas jh ve P 6 1 designated by referents supported above the tank and is provided with numeral W l 13 9 at t Year E ve been means for separating the large, particlesfrom indicated by iemn nu er Th W W 40 the smaller ones. Means is also provided for re- ,extend 9V h of t tank manner 40 moving the tailings from the machineand there- Shown rqFl a 5 nd e adapted to 1 fore the machine is capable of handling a large Port hu e i that is employed r n h amount of material and only requiresthis mamaterial to'the Time o T te n i ts 0f terial to be fed :to the hopper while the maseveral Sections, the two e Ones having been chine is in operation. designated by reference numerals 7 and 7a. It 45" 7 e Having thus briefly outlined theobjects of the W be Seen f ha h ection fid is invention and the structureby means of which li htly ow r thanthev 5 1 i e y f rthese objects are attained; the invention will now encenumeral en the t o a c nnected by be illustrated yin its preferred form and for this P 3 858- e front end of chute section 7-isSuD- purpose reference will be had to the accompany ported on a framework having side members 9 5o ing drawings in which the preferred embodiment and. is provided with ahopper lo into which the has been illustratedand in'which: materialptotbe separated isfed, either by means Fig. 1 is a. side elevation of-the machine, porof a conveyor or by being shoveledinto .the same tions being broken away to better disclose the by hand. At the lowerend ofl-section 7a, there v. g is a separator section 11 which hasbeenshown in longitudinal section in Fig. 4 and which consists of a sheet metal chute having a bottom 12. Intermediate the upper edge of the sides and the bottom 12 are located a number of parallel bars 13 that form a grizzly which serves to separate the larger materials from the smaller. At the lower end of section 11, a chute 14 is placed, and this has its rear end turned upwardly as indicated by reference numeral 15, so that the material that has passed through the grizzly between jthebars 13 will be dischargedinto the chute l4'and transported by it to the upper end 15 of a riifle box. From Fig. 3, it will be seen that chute 14 is forked or divided so as to form two narrower chute sec tions 14a. Each of these narrow chute sections discharges into the upper end of a rifiie the" The eizb x s are supported by a frame work comprising two parallel angles 16 that are connected'by' trans manner shown in this figure.

the frame and have their en'dssecured to the side members 16 in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 6. At the center membersl-Q are bentupwardly' as indicated by numeral 20 in' Fig;16,or'a separate angle member can be secured to their upper surfaces in such a way asto form saddlesinwhich the rifile boxes 15.aresupp orted., Thefriflle boxes are preferably formed from copper orsome other suitable material and have' flat bottoms 21 and inclined sides 22; "l'hebottom's andthefsides are provided with transverse rifilesor ribs, whose upper. walls are vertical and whose lower walls may be inclined. The function of the rifiles'or ribs is to retain the gold and other heavy material that is present in the material that'is treated. I

For the purposeof reciprocating the riffle'boxes, a shaft 23has been mounted for rotation in bear; ings 24 and 25, and one' end 'of this shaft is provided with a crank disk 26 to" which an elongated crank pin 2'7 is secured. Ifhe'other end of the crankpin2'7 is connected with a crank disk 28 and has a pivot pin 29;which 'is inaxial align ment with shaft 23; Connecting rods 30" are rotatably connected with the crank pin 27 at their outer ends and havetheir innerends '31 connected to a bar 32 that extendsfrom one of the supporting membersl9 to the other, asshow'n in Fig. 3; When shaft 23 is rotated; a frame comprising members'lfi and l'lwill be moved back and forth and-this-will impart a corresponding movement to the riflle boxes for thepurpose of facilitating the-separation of the "gold from the nonmetallic particles; A bearing block 33 isattached to the upperframemember' and has'an opening that serves as'abea'ringfor the pin29 and is also 'provided with a stub shaft 34 on which is rotatably mounted a pulley 35. Pulley 35 has attached to its inner surface, a smaller grooved pulley 36. One end of shaft 23 is 'journ'aled in a bearing block 25 andithis blockis also provided with bearings for a'shaft 3? like that 'shown'in Fig. 9. Securedto'the outer 'end' of this shaft is a large-grooved pulley 38 and secured to 'thei'n ner end is'a smallergrooved pulley which has been designated by. reference numeral 39. Box 25 has a recess or opening in which are located two bevel'gears. The bevel gear marked 40 is secured to shaft 37 whilethe one marked 41 is secured to shaft 23. Whenever shaft 3'7 is turned, it will produce rotation of shaft 23 and as a result of this the rifile boxes will be reciprocated transversely of the tank in a manner quite clear an electricmotor, and whose belt wheel hasbeen designated by reference numeral 42, is connected to the base 43 on which the machine is mounted. Apump 44of the impeller or centrifugal type is secured to the outside of the tank and has a tubular portion 45 extendingvinto' the tank near; the bottom. Member 45 serves as the intake port of the pump and the part designated by reference numeral 46 isthe outlet port. The pump the engine with the larger-pulley, en ma-4 and another belt'5l connects thepulley 49 with pulley 35. 'A'belt- 52-connects the pulley 36 'wi th pulley 38, while abelt 53 connects the pulley'i39 with a pulley 43- and is'secur'ed tothe outer end of shaft 55=for the'purpose of dperating'thecle'ap ing conveyor. Extending upwardly from the outf let opening 46 of the pump isa'hose or pipe 56-; whose upper end terminates in' a gooseneck-llke pipe section-57-. One-"end of'tl'iis pipe section extends throughthe covering of the sluice section 7 and terminates on the inside thereof, and when the pump is operating, water is delivred'to the upperend of the'sluic'e box fromthe tank or reservoirj A branchpipe 58 extends into the "feed hopper and is provided with a v'alve 59 by means of which the quantity of the -'water that l p 7 through this branch section cambe controlled. 4 1 Extending transversely of the tank isabar' m.

like that'shown in Fig. 5-andsupported from this bar is a triangular tank having an end 'memtank as shown in Fig; 5'. Located within the tank that has just been'desc'ribed is a conveyor. This conveyor consists of two parallelchannel shaft 47 has-secured to it two grooved pulleys-46 and 49. A belt connects the "belt pulley :420!

irons 65,whos'e lower flanges-are connected by -a metal sheet 66 that forms the bottom of the cone 7 veyor. The lower' end of bottom memb er 66- is bent upwardly as indicated by reference numeral 6'7. A shaft 68 extends through the? two: side channels at the bottom-and this is parallelg with' shaftwhich is similarly located at the-top.

Shafts 55 and 68 are each provided with ;two

sprocket wheels:69 that cooperate with sprocket chains 70. The chains are provided-at spacui carry material upwardly along tli'eupper surface ofthe bottom member 66. Angles '72 secured tp the inner surfaces of the channels serve" to sup'- are directlyabove the 150mm: 66; move upwardly and therefore any angu'e that is depositedin this i Q1,

box will becarried out and deposited -'on'E-the tailings'pile.--

, a! intervals with transverse bars 71 that sc -veto Attention is-called tothe fact that the upper end of inclined sides '63 is' 'somewhat below-the a top of the tank and-therefore the--water withln the box formed in part by sides 63 can memoir. 78 I a from this box into the tank without spilling over the sides of the latter.

From the above description it will, be seen that when the machine is constructed as above described and the parts are operated by means of a motor, the pump will function to raise water from the tank to the upper end of the chute section 7 and also into the hopper 10. This water will carry with it the gravel or sand that is to be treated and when this reaches section 11, the larger particles will be separated by the grizzly comprising the bars 13. The smaller particles of the mixture will enter the chute 14 and after being divided will pass through the branches 14a onto the upper endsof the riflie boxes. When the other parts are operating, the riflie boxes will be moved back and forth by the action of the crank 'pin 27 and this will agitate the material, and

cause the heavier particles to settleto thebottom. The heavy particles, such as gold, will be detained by the transverse riflles, while the gangue will pass over and be'deposited in the box containing the conveyor. The solid material that is rejected by the rifile boxes will finally be carried out by the action of the conveyor.

When the machine above described is operated by an internal combustion engine or an electric motor, it is capable of continuous operation and will handle a large amount of material. The water is drained from the gangue or tailings before thelatter leave the tank and therefore the consumption of water is very small compared to other methods of placer mining, and where the sand contains flour gold to such fineness that it will usually float off with the water when treated in the ordinary way with large amounts of water, the fiourgold will accumulate in the tank in the form of a scum or as a sediment and can therefore be collected and saved. After the material has been runfor a considerable length of time, the rifile boxes are cleaned and the tank may also be cleaned and the settlings therein subjected to furtherseparation if desired.

It is sometimes desirable to agitate the mixture after it leaves the separator 11 and when such a construction is desired, the chute portion 14 is separated and a rotating drum '73 interposed between the two sections in the manner shown in Fig. 11. This drum may be mounted on grooved wheels 74 secured to a shaft '75. One end of this shaft is provided with a pulley 76 and this can be connected by means of a belt to any extent of the shaft 29, which construction has not been shown, but which can easily be understood from the presentdrawings withoutfurther explanation. Drum 73 has a discharge opening 7'7 through which the material passes onto the chute section 1422 and from these onto the riffle boxes in the manner indicated. The inner surface of drum 73 may have longitudinally extending ribs 78 to facilitate the agitation of'the material. A clean out opening provided with a cap '79 is preferably provided near the lower end of the drum and when the latter is to be cleaned, this opening is brought to the bottom of the drum and the cap removed.

In Figs. 12, 13 and 14, a modified form of feed hopper has been illustrated. The corner posts.

and 6 on each side are joined by angle iron is journaled in each pair of bearings. Each shaft has two flanged wheels 83 which support a drum shaped feed hopper 84. Drum 84 has an intake opening 85 and a discharge opening 86; the latter terminating in such a position that it will discharge into the upper end of chute section 7. The ends of shafts 82 are provided with sprocket wheels 87 that are connected by means of a sprocket chain 89. One shaft 82 has a sprocket wheel 90 that is connected by means of a chain 91 with the wheel 92 secured to the outer end of shaft 93. When the wheel 38 rotates, it will also rotate the drum in 'a manner quite apparent. The inner surface of drum 84 has anumber of parallel ribs 94 that serve to break up and separate the gangue particles before they are delivered onto the chute 7. A hopper 95 is provided and serves 'to' direct the material into the drum 84 in the vention is of a simple substantial construction and is so built and designed that it can be readily loaded onto a truck and transported to any place desired. Due to the reemployment of the water, a small quantity of water will suffice for a long period of operation and therefore the machine is well adapted for usein dry regions.

This application is a continuation in part as to certain common features shown in application Serial No. 576,046, filed November 19, 1931.

Having described the invention what is claimed I A water recovery device for use with placer mining machines in which gangue and metallic particles are mixed with water, comprising a water storage tank, a water receiving tank located in the storage'tank adjacent one end thereof for receiving the gangue and water to be separated, the receiving tank having a substantially flat, inc1ined bottom, vertical sides and an end member that is higher than the sideswhich are widened adjacent the end member, interconnecting means between the water storage tank and the end of the receiving tank that is located within the storage tank for supporting the latter with the upper edge of the end member below the top of the storage tank whereby water may overflow from the receiving tank into the storage tank, the bottom of the receiving tank extending over the end of the storage tank, and a conveyor device located in the receiving tank for removing gangue therefrom.

NATHAN GOLDBERG. 

